TikTok — Channel Overview

Researched: May 2026

Contents

• README.md — This file: overview, what to build, implementation plan

Full deferred-feature notes live at docs/missing-incomplete-features/tiktok-publishing.md and docs/missing-incomplete-features/twitter-x-tiktok-channels.md.

Status

Deactivated — removed from the active channel catalogue April 2026. The SocialPost model already has a TikTok platform enum value and the Social Post Writer/Designer handle TikTok output format. What’s missing is the OAuth provider and the publisher worker.

Why This Channel

TikTok is the dominant short-form video platform with over 1 billion monthly active users. For Leadmetrics clients in consumer verticals — food, beauty, fitness, retail, local services — TikTok is often where their audience actually lives. Competitors like Later and Hootsuite publish to TikTok. Clients in these verticals specifically ask for it.

The core challenge: TikTok’s Content Posting API requires video — there is no text-only or image-only post API. Every post must include a video asset. This makes TikTok fundamentally different from Instagram/Facebook and requires either a video generation pipeline or a manual-publish fallback.

Auth Mechanism

OAuth 2.0 (standard authorization code flow, not PKCE).

• Auth URL: https://www.tiktok.com/v2/auth/authorize
• Token URL: https://open.tiktokapis.com/v2/oauth/token/
• Scopes: user.info.basic video.upload video.publish
• Token refresh: access token expires in 24 hours; refresh token in 365 days

The provider stores accessToken, refreshToken, accessTokenExpiresAt, and openId (TikTok’s user identifier).

What It Enables

Workers Needed

Phase 1 has no publisher worker — the DM publishes manually using the generated caption + assets.

Two-Phase Video Upload (Phase 2)

TikTok’s Content Posting API requires a chunked upload:

1. POST /v2/post/publish/video/init/
   → returns { publish_id, upload_url }

2. PUT <upload_url> with video chunks
   → chunked transfer (each chunk ≤ 64 MB)

3. POST /v2/post/publish/video/
   → with { publish_id, caption, privacy_level, ... }
   → returns { publish_id } for polling

4. GET /v2/post/publish/status/fetch/
   → poll until PUBLISH_COMPLETE or FAILED

The video file must exist in DigitalOcean Spaces before the worker runs. The Social Post Designer must produce a video export (MP4) as a required output for TikTok posts.

Insight Worker Output (ChannelInsight)

• Average views per video over 30 days
• Top 5 hashtags by engagement
• Best posting days / hours
• Video completion rate trend
• Suggested: next video concept based on top-performing content

Implementation Plan

Phase 1 — Connect + Manual Publish

1. Create packages/providers/tiktok/src/index.ts:

   • getAuthUrl(callbackUrl, channelId) — auth URL + state
   • exchangeCode(code, callbackUrl) — returns tokens + openId
   • refreshAccessToken(refreshToken) — returns new access token
   • getUserInfo(accessToken, openId) — display name, avatar
   • verify() — connection health check

2. Add OAuth routes to apps/api/src/routers/channel-connect.ts:

   • GET /tiktok/connect → return auth URL
   • GET /tiktok/callback → exchange code, store tokens, close popup

3. Re-activate seed entry in packages/db/prisma/seed.ts

4. Social Post pipeline: for TikTok posts, set publishMethod: "manual" on SocialPost. DM Portal shows “Copy Caption” + “Download Assets” + “Open TikTok Creator” link instead of scheduling controls.

5. Create apps/dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/channels/[id]/TikTokChannelDetail.tsx

Phase 2 — API Publish

6. Add chunked video upload methods to the provider package

7. Create packages/agents/src/workers/tiktok-publisher.worker.ts

   • Pull video MP4 from DigitalOcean Spaces
   • initVideoUpload → chunk upload → createVideoPost → poll status
   • Update SocialPost with tiktokPostId + share URL on success

8. Add Insights tab + tiktok-insights.worker.ts

Open Decisions

Seed Entry

// packages/db/prisma/seed.ts — CHANNEL_CATALOGUE
{
  type: "TikTok",
  name: "TikTok",
  iconKey: "tiktok",
  description: "Publish short-form video content to TikTok.",
  authenticationType: "oauth2",
  requiresUrl: false,
  isActive: true, // change from false
  categories: ["social_media"],
},

Related

• docs/missing-incomplete-features/tiktok-publishing.md
• docs/missing-incomplete-features/twitter-x-tiktok-channels.md
• packages/agents/src/workers/social-publisher.worker.ts
• packages/agents/src/workers/social-post-designer.worker.ts